Sir Alex Ferguson has moved to clarify comments he made about taking a director role at Manchester United, stressing any move into the Old Trafford boardroom is still some way off.

In an interview with the new magazine twentyfour7, Ferguson said: "There's no getting rid of me. I will probably become a director. Nobody knows. Neither do I. It won't be a doctor that tells me to quit."

Speaking to the wider media ahead of Saturday's Premier League match with Norwich City at Old Trafford, Ferguson expanded on his thoughts, arguing that United are working towards what he believes is the "brilliant" Bayern Munich model by installing Sir Bobby Charlton as a director and a number of former players – including Peter Schmeichel, Andy Cole and Gary Neville – as ambassadors.

"That's a long time away [being a director at the club], I hope," he said. "The role Bobby Charlton has played at the club has been fantastic. He has been a tremendous support to the manager and a lot of the players.

"I think Bayern Munich is the perfect model. It's no problem having a replica of that for this club who have had so many great players over the years and who are now ambassadors. There are quite a few of them here now and that's a role we should be using as well."

Ferguson confirmed that Robin van Persie will be in the squad for the game against Norwich. Van Persie hurt his hip when he crashed into a TV camera at Queens Park Rangers last Saturday but the striker has recovered and will come into contention.